1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an N-alkylcarbamylalkanol sulfate and a salt thereof, which has excellent foaming power and detergency while being low in irritancy to the skin, so as to be widely useful as detergents for hair, skin, tableware, etc. The present invention also relates to a process for producing an N-alkyl-carbamylalkanol sulfate and a salt thereof and a detergent composition containing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, it is demanded that the surfactant used as a detergent have excellent surface activation capability and other properties, such as biodegradability and safety to the skin and eyes.
Surfactants satisfying the above demand include an acylated amino acid surfactant, an imidazoline surfactant and a saccharide surfactant such as an alkyl glycoside, which are widely used. However, these surfactants are generally poor in detergency and foaming power, which are especially important in a detergent. Therefore, their sole use as an ingredient in a shampoo or the like is uncommon, and they are generally used in combination with conventional anionic surfactants, such as an alkyl sulfate and an alkyl ether sulfate.
On the other hand, a sulfate of a monoethanolamide of a fatty acid and an isethionic ester are surfactants that are excellent in both safety and foaming power. However, these surfactants are unstable in solution.
Therefore, the development of a detergent having not only excellent foaming power and detergency, but also high safety and stability is strongly demanded in the art.